Since 1999, the amount of prescription opioids sold in the United States has nearly quadrupled. And with around 300 million pain prescriptions written in 2015, the U.S. now consumes about 80% of the global opioid supply.

As a result, the U.S. is currently experiencing a prescription opioid epidemic. More than 28,000 people died from opioid overdose in 2014, and at least half of those deaths involved a prescription opioid. Drug overdoses now surpass automobile accidents as the leading cause for injury-related death for Americans between the ages of 25 and 64. Unfortunately, Louisiana is one of the top ten states for these drug overdoses, with approximately 780 Louisiana residents dying from prescription overdoses each year. What's more: Louisiana is one of eight states to have more opioid prescriptions than residents.

Opioid abuse must end, and that is why Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry is partnering with the Louisiana Ambulance Alliance to take action. We are committed to working together to combat opioid addiction, to learn safe practices for storing and disposing of all medications, to identify available resources for the treatment of addiction, and to put an end to drug abuse and addiction in our State.

We hope that the resources and information found on this website can help you or someone you know. Together, we can End the Epidemic in Louisiana.

Committed to Curbing Opioid Abuse in Louisiana

By: Attorney General Jeff Landry

We have all seen it: a valid prescription becomes abuse, abuse becomes addiction, and addiction turns into illegal activity or death. From urban metropolises to rural towns and affluent areas to poorer neighborhoods, no community is immune to the opioid abuse epidemic.

Every day, Americans lose 120 family members and friends to an overdose – more than half by prescription drugs or heroin. Eighty percent of new heroin users started out misusing prescription painkillers, causing the rate of heroin overdose deaths to nearly quadruple in the U.S. from 2000 to 2013. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, drug overdoses now surpass automobile accidents as the leading cause of injury-related death for Americans between the ages of 25 and 64.

Sources: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, CNBC, Wisconsin Attorney General’s Office, National Attorneys General Training & Research Institute, National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Inc., National Business Group on Health